


Meet Me Under the Mistletoe

by Krank



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Bad Flirting, Christmas, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Mistletoe, Mutual Pining, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-12
Updated: 2014-12-12
Packaged: 2018-03-01 04:51:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2760257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krank/pseuds/Krank
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall has wanted his next door neighbor ever since he met him on the day he moved in. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, he <i>works</i> with him. Queue hopeless pining at their staff Christmas party.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Meet Me Under the Mistletoe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [littlepinkbow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlepinkbow/gifts).



> This was written for the Narry Holiday Fic Exchange from the prompt: 
> 
>  
> 
> _Office Christmas Party AU - Niall is Harry's boss and they have been mutually pining after one another without knowing it. After a few drinks, Harry gets courageous and confronts Niall about how he feels about him._
> 
>  
> 
> I made a couple of changes, though I hope it still makes you happy! :) Merry Christmas!
> 
> [My Tumblr](http://krank-writes.tumblr.com/)

“Well don’t you just look absolutely pathetic.”  

Niall rolled his eyes as he heard the familiar voice of his best friend ring out behind him. He didn’t bother turning around, and instead nursed his third pint of beer and continued to watch the object of his undying affection charm the pants off of nearly ninety percent of the room.  

He heard a scoff, and then Louis’ annoying face entered in to his field of vision. Niall tried to swat him away, but the blue-eyed boy resisted.  

“Cheer up, mate, it’s Christmas!”  

“It’s December thirteenth,” Niall corrected automatically. He  _ loved _  correcting Louis. It was a fun activity.  

His friend dumped his body on to the chair beside him, folding his arms on the white table linens. He proceeded to stare at Niall, probably hoping to burn a hole into his skull through sheer will power.

  They were at their company’s annual Christmas party. They worked for a large corporation, with offices all over the United Kingdom, which meant that the parties were always very nice, so much so that Niall had had to dust off his old suit that sat lonely in his closet for the other 364 days of the year. Their office had rented out a ballroom at a local hotel, with food and good music, and not to mention an open bar. Which Niall was taking  _ full _ advantage of.

He loved his job, he really did. It paid well, and he felt like he was actually good for something, which he’d struggled with right out of college. It wasn’t what he wanted to do for the rest of his life, but it was money in the bank and he genuinely enjoyed it. He’d met Louis on his first day more than a year ago, and it was probably one of the best (and worst) things that had ever happened to him.  

“Did you bring him the gift you got him?”   

Niall looked up from his bubbly beer, feeling a hot flush colour his cheeks. Louis was looking at him expectantly, one judgmental eyebrow raised.  

“I… “ Niall sighed. “No. I didn’t.”

  “For God’s sake, Niall!” Louis bellowed, loud enough that it attracted a bit of attention. Niall hunched his shoulders against the stares. “You went to five different record stores around London to find the thing, why the hell didn’t you bring it?”

  Niall shook his head. “Because it’s stupid, Lou. No one gets something like that for their  _ supervisor _ . A tie? Maybe. Box of chocolates? Sure! But not a Rolling Stones record because you secretly overheard him talking on the phone one day telling someone about the record player he’d gotten from his grandfather. It’s creepy.”  

Louis scoffed again, something he did a lot when he was with Niall. “He’s not just your supervisor, Ni! He’s a friend, at least.” 

“And completely off-limits,” the blonde sighed. He looked up across the room once more, eyes landing on the very man they were discussing. His name was Harry Styles and he was six feet of green-eyed amazingness, with a wonderful personality to go with it, which was terribly rare when it came to good-looking, wealthy people.  

Niall had first met him when he was moving into his first flat after finally getting out of uni halls. It had been a little nicer than he could afford, but in a city like London he didn’t want to get stuck with a lease on a terrible place. Harry had come to his door later in the evening once all of his rowdy university friends had left (after drinking all of his beer) to welcome him to the building. It was all downhill after Niall laid eyes on the tall drink of water standing on the other side of his threshold holding a bottle of expensive wine.

He hadn’t had a crush in ages before Harry. Love hadn’t been in the cards during his uni days, sex being easy enough to come by to not have to worry about feelings and relationships. One night stands and a couple fuck-buddies later, Niall was unsure if he even wanted someone to be a permanent fixture in his life… Until he’d met Harry. As soon as he’d met him, he’d decided he wanted to be both on his knees with his cock in his mouth, and cuddled up beside him for a movie night; fucked into his mattress and also in his kitchen, making him breakfast wearing nothing but one of his nicely pressed dress shirts. He wanted it  _ all _ .  

Unfortunately, two weeks after meeting the potential man of his dreams, Harry offered him a job at his step-father’s company. Being the broke masochist that he was, Niall accepted.  

Which found him in his current situation, yearning for something he just couldn’t have.  

They weren’t  _ friends _  exactly, more like professional acquaintances. Niall worked in Harry’s department in the company, directly answering to him. They joked a lot, and Harry liked to tell Niall all about his families shenanigans, which probably wasn’t appropriate at all considering Harry’s ‘family’ were Niall’s employers.

They met in the hallway sometimes in passing, Harry borrowed the occasional cup of sugar like some sort of cliché, and Niall had once gone to Harry’s to watch a footie match when his television had died. Alright, so maybe they were  _sort of friends_.  

“Go over and talk to him!” Louis said suddenly, chugging the rest of whatever was in his cup.  

Niall stared. “Are you fucking nuts? I’m three sheets to the wind, I’ll make a fool of meself!”

  “You’d make a fool of yourself if you were completely sober, mate, let’s be honest.”  

“You’re such a supportive friend, thanks Lou.”

  “You’re welcome, Nigel.”  

They hung out at their table for a while longer, chatting about nothing and watching as several drunken co-workers went up to the mic to make terrible toasts. They judged people from where they sat, trying to determine who would go home together and who would be going home to their house full of cats. It wasn’t a difficult game.  

The party began to wind down around eleven o’clock, and when Niall completely lost track of Harry, he decided it was time to go. His raison d’être was gone and Louis had fucked off somewhere, so he called himself a cab and made his way towards the lobby of the hotel.  

“Niall!”

He froze, hearing his favourite voice (ever) calling out his name. He looked up and saw Harry making his way towards him, the bright smile on his face forcing one dimple out on display. Niall loved that dimple.

  “Harry, hey!” He grinned back, feeling his heart start to beat just a bit faster.

  “Are you heading out now?” Harry asked, and Niall tried to convince himself he was imagining the disappointment in his tone.

  He nodded. “I am, yeah.”  

They came to a mutual stop in the doorway of the ballroom. “Did you have fun tonight?” Harry continued with his questions.  

Again, Niall nodded. “I did! The food was great, though it’s not hard to make me happy when it comes to food, I suppose. I’ll literally eat anything.”

  “Oh yeah?” Harry had his smile back. “I should invite you over the next time I’m trying something new for dinner! My sister has gotten tired of the job as taste tester. Plus, she’s a harsh critic.”  

Niall felt his heart skip a beat.  _ Harry wanted to make him dinner _ . “I… I would like -“  

“Oh would you look at that!” Harry exclaimed, cutting off Niall’s feeble attempt at a reply. He followed Harry’s eyes and looked up, seeing a familiar fake leafy green plant with equally fake white berries, hanging from the doorway above them. “Mistletoe.”  

Just as Niall was registering what it meant, someone brushed past them to leave the room, forcing Harry to take a step closer. Niall was overwhelmed by the scent of his cologne, the scent of  _ Harry _ . Warmth rushed to his cheeks as the taller man crowded him against the door frame.  

“Suppose we can’t let the tradition down, can we?” Harry mumbled, still referring to the fake parasitic plant hanging over them. Niall inhaled sharply, wondering if he was being serious. His eyes darted to all the people still socializing around them. They weren’t paying either of them much mind, but if Harry was going to  _ kiss _ him…  

He felt Harry’s arms wrap around him and pull him into a hug and it was both the most wonderful and most disappointing thing he’d ever experienced.  

And it was over far too quickly.  

Niall knew his face was bright red, and he knew he had to get away before he embarrassed himself completely. “I… I’ve got to go, I’ve got a cab waiting!” He stuttered, worming his way out from between Harry and the door casing. “Let, uh, Mr. Twist know that it was a great party, yeah?”

  Niall made a b-line for the front doors of the swanky hotel without looking back, seeing his freedom within his reach. The evening had been far too eventful, and he was too drunk to deal with any of it.  

“Niall, hey! Wait!” He almost groaned when he heard Harry’s voice again. The curly-haired brunette jogged up to him, that innocent grin still painted on his face. “Did you want to share a cab?”

  Niall couldn’t very well say no, because they lived in the same. Fucking. Building. And it was for that reason that minutes later he found himself tucked into the backseat of a cab, Harry’s warm body pressed to his side. He hoped that traffic wasn’t too bad because he didn’t know how much more he could take. It was some sort of sick torture that Harry was so obliviously charming  _ all the time _ . As if to prove some sort of point, the entire car ride consisted of him making casual conversation with their cab driver, asking him how long he’d been in London and how his family was. He was such a gift to the world.  

Niall spent his time looking out the car window at the city around them. He’d grown up in such a small town in Ireland, that he was still continuously amazed at the sights and sounds of London. Shop windows were lit up for Christmas, and there was light snow in the air. London always seemed to be moving, even so late at night. He was addicted to the feeling and he never wanted to leave.  

“Pretty, isn’t it?” Harry whispered, his breath on Niall’s ear sending a chill down his spine. All Niall could do was nod.  

They arrived at their building and he stood outside while Harry paid for their cab, much to his frustration, and gave a generous tip if the cabbie’s joyous  _ ‘Merry Christmas to you, too, Sir!’ _ was anything to go by. The cold air blowing through London was sobering, stripping away Niall’s comfortable state of intoxication and replacing it with a bit of grumpy fatigue.

  They rode the elevator up to their floor in silence, apart from Harry’s soft humming of  _ ‘White Christmas’ _ .  

When Niall reached his door he was relieved. He was ready to put the entire night behind him and forget all of Harry’s smiles and touches and words. He’d wake up and it would be Sunday and he’d go back to hopelessly pining from a distance, something that he was better at than actually facing the object of his affections.  

Though, instead of heading into his flat, Harry stood and looked at him expectantly. ”Did you want to come in for tea?”  

No. “I would love to.”     

 

Niall sat on Harry’s squishy couch, looking around at all of the things in his flat. Niall was familiar with all of it, down to all the strange books he liked to collect and the artsy hipster photo prints he hung on his wall. It was a comfortable place, and helped Niall relax. He’d also taken the time to change into a soft sweater and sweatpants, happy to get out of his suit. Harry was wearing a dark green cable-knit and skinny jeans. Niall wouldn’t consider them comfortable, but he was hardly going to complain.  

“Tea is served!” Harry announced, bringing over two cups and placing them on the coffee table. He took a seat beside Niall, sitting closer than was necessary considering the size of the sofa. Niall tried not to think about it.

  “Was different seeing you all done up tonight,” Harry grinned over the rim of his mug.

  Niall’s face got hot as he imagined Harry checking him out over the course of the evening, but that was just ridiculous. “Yeah, I tend to feel like a little kid going to church whenever I get my suit out. Not the greatest.”  

Harry threw his head back and laughed, finding the joke far more funny than Niall had expected. He decided that he wouldn’t mind hearing that laugh every day for the rest of his life. “That’s ridiculous, you looked amazing.”  

They drank their tea, which was probably one of the best cups Niall had ever had. Harry made it so hard not to love everything about him, the bastard even made brilliant tea. The silence between them was comfortable, and Niall convinced himself that he could persevere. In a few more minutes he’d finish his drink and excuse himself, exaggerating how tired he was and thanking Harry for his hospitality. Then, he’d go back across the hallway and throw himself on to his bed, and wake up the following morning and put all of Harry’s smiles and touches and words behind him and continue to yearn from afar, an art he had mastered.

Harry cleared his throat. “You know, we should hang out more. I mean, we’re neighbours and I only manage to see you in passing or when I run out of sugar.”

“Which you do surprisingly often!” Niall chimed in, tracing the rim of his cup with a smile. “But, yeah I suppose we should.”

Another silence. Niall wanted to kick himself for how much he was failing. He was a social butterfly in every other area of his life except when it came to Harry. For some reason or another, one look at the curly-haired boy made him freeze up and betray everything his father passed down to him about being a proper loud and proud Irishman.

“I want to try something,” Harry mumbled suddenly as he set his drink down.

Niall blinked. “You  _ what _ ?” 

“I just need to do this or I’ll regret it forever.”

Harry angled his body towards him just as the warning bells began to go off in Niall’s brain. His mind raced as he realized what was happening - what was  _ about  _ to happen. Harry leaned in, the space between them rapidly decreasing.  _ He was going to kiss him _ .

It was soft. Just the simple press of lips. Innocent enough, though it was everything that Niall had been wanting for months. One of Harry’s large hands had found it’s way to his knee and he squeezed it tightly, his other hand cradling his face. Tingles traveled down Niall’s spine, warming him to his core. He felt flushed and a bit delirious.

Harry was the first to pull away, though he stayed close, hovering. His eyes searched Niall’s entire face, and when their gaze finally locked, he surged forward again, catching him a bit off guard.

The second kiss was heated, and it rapidly escalated to tongues and teeth. Niall felt himself being slowly guided back until he lost his balance and flopped backwards on to the couch cushions, Harry’s weight settling over his thighs. His heart was racing, ready to burst with everything he’d ever held in up until that moment. He felt reckless.

It was Harry’s cold hands sneaking up under his sweater that finally brought reality slamming back down on him. “No!” He gasped, pushing Harry back as dread pooled in his belly. “No, no, we can’t!”

Once Harry realized what was going on, he scrambled backwards, off of Niall’s legs and back against the arm of the sofa. “I’m so sorry!” He breathed, wiping his lips on the back of his hand. “That went too far! It seems I read in to something that wasn’t there.”

Niall shook his head and tried for a laugh, though it was a weak one. He stared at his hands that had been fisted in Harry’s hair just seconds before. His lips tingled, and he could feel sweat on the back of his neck. “Harry, we  _ work _ together.”

There was a pregnant pause. “Wait, so  _ that’s _ the issue you have with this? It’s not because I came on to you, but it’s because I came on to you and we  _ work  _ together?”

Niall nodded slowly. “It’s not appropriate.”

“That’s the biggest load of bullshit I’ve ever heard! Who cares?”

Niall’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?  _ I _ care! My  _ co-workers _ care, your  _ stepdad _ cares!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, my stepdad  _ loves _ you!”

“Harry,” Niall deflated, cradling his head in his hands. He could see the Christmas tree lights through the cracks in his fingers. “Harry, please. I’ve worked hard and I’m not going to throw it all away just to sleep with you.”

Harry frowned. “Who says I want you to sleep with me?”

Niall felt a bit like he’d been slapped. Luckily, Harry continued struggling his way through his thoughts.

“W-wait, what I meant was, you know, I would hope that sleeping together would be a part of it all, but I’d also like to cook you breakfast in the morning, and go on trips to the grocery store with you, and do nothing on a Sunday afternoon but watch TV while you wear my favourite shirt… “

Niall felt a smile slip on to his face as he listened to Harry speak his feelings, even if they sounded like they came straight from a terrible romance novel. He supposed that was just something else to love about Harry: his cheesiness.

“But if you’re not interested…”

“No!” Niall blurted, sitting up straight and looking him dead in the eyes. “No, I  _ am  _ interested. You have no idea  _ how _ interested. I just… it’s not going to work!”

“You know,” Harry said with a grin. “You are the hardest person to get. I thought I had a strong game, but then I met you. I went as far as getting you a job working with me just so I could see you more often! Do you know how much sugar is in my cabinet at the moment? Hell, I even got you under the mistletoe tonight and you still wouldn’t budge! You’re exhausting, did you know that?”

Niall shook his head, his cheeks warm. No, he didn’t. He remembered all the times he convinced himself that Harry’s grand gestures and smiles and sugar needs were just friendliness and nothing more. He’d been horribly wrong.

“If you’re worried about work, I can talk to my stepdad, we can keep it between us -“

“Not a chance,” Niall interrupted, trying to keep his voice even. “I’m not about to be your dirty little secret, or the next office slut trying to sleep his way to the top.”

Harry’s eyebrows knitted together. “No, Ni -“

“People are cruel, it’s the reality of it all,” he sighed. “But… Is this, you know, something that you want to try? This thing between us?” Harry nodded eagerly, taking Niall’s face in his hands. He was so beautiful it hurt sometimes.

Niall leaned in close, taking a deep breath as he simultaneously took a leap of faith. “Then consider this my resignation.”

He could definitely get used to kissing Harry.

 

-Two weeks later-

Niall was seated on his couch, laptop in his lap and a coffee in hand. He had just applied for another job, one that he was truly excited about. He’d worked his last full day at the company the day before, and his first day in the army of the unemployed had been rather uneventful.

Once he’d had time to rest and rejuvenate after kissing Harry’s face off that magical night, he’d had a bit of a breakdown over leaving his job. He’d snapped at Harry rather harshly during one of their lunch dates, a new routine they had started. He’d apologized shortly after, though he ended up calling his mother at two in the morning to ask her if he was making the right choice. She had reminded him of his goals when he was in college, about the job that he’d wanted since he was in high school. Niall came out of it confident in his choice, viewing the recent events as a reason to leave the comfort of his job for something new and exciting. He’d also scored a boyfriend out of it, so that was pretty cool as well.

Louis had taken his leaving quite badly. He was bitter for all of two days until Niall convinced him that they were still going to see each other even though he wouldn’t be at the office anymore. Louis promised to show up unannounced whenever he pleased, and Niall agreed so long as he brought beer.

A series of knocks startled him out of his thoughts, and Niall flailed a bit as he safely stowed his laptop and hurried to the door. Harry stood on the other side, holding a pile of take-away.

“Hey, you!” He grinned, leaning in for a kiss before he even made it inside. Niall avoided his lips, giggling as he stole the food from him and darted away to the kitchen. “Just for that I’m not giving you your gift!” Harry called after him.

It was Christmas Eve and London had been covered in a blanket of fresh snow, Harry having tracked half of it in to the building on his boots and coat.

It had only been two weeks, and yet their relationship had blossomed in to something quite perfect. Once Niall became more comfortable finally letting himself have what he wanted in the form of Harry, everything started to work out smoothly. They saw each other as much as they could, and managed to keep their relationship quiet at work. Harry’s parents knew, though, because he refused to keep it from them as well. They didn’t seem to mind it, though Niall still submitted his two weeks and finished work the honourable way.

They’d had a sleepover already, which was absolutely  _ glorious _ if Niall was being honest. He sometimes worried if they were moving too fast, but it felt so right that it would be silly to change anything.

He unpacked the Chinese food from the bags and divided it (almost) equally on to two plates. Harry appeared beside him, deciding to stick his cold hands under Niall’s shirt as some sort of payback.

“Oh, you  _ dick!”  _ Niall shrieked, trying to squirm away from him.

“Serves you right, you little tease! You should have kissed me!”

Harry got his wish eventually, once he had Niall pinned against the refrigerator. “How’s the job hunt going?” He asked, guiding Niall in to the living room with their food and beverages. He plugged in the Christmas tree, which was a bit sadder looking than Harry’s own but festive nonetheless.

Niall shoved a fork full of chicken fried rice in to his mouth. “It’s going. I’m not expecting to hear back from anyone until at least the twenty-seventh, so I suppose I should just enjoy the holidays and try not to think about it.”

Harry gave him a sympathetic look. “I’m so sorry for this, Niall. The last thing I wanted was for you to have to go through this. I talked to Robyn, and I don’t think it would be a big deal if you kept working for the company!”

Niall shook his head vehemently. “No, Harry. I’m not going to put us through the nasty rumours and all that.” He leaned himself against his boyfriend’s taller frame. “Besides, this is a great reason to look at things that are more catered to what I paid money to learn! This is actually a gift, trust me.”

Harry sighed, and Niall knew he was giving in to his reasoning. He brought it up quite a bit, always apologetic, and Niall kept having to remind him of the good instead of the bad.

“You’re going to Mullingar on the twenty-sixth?”

Niall nodded. Because of the snow, his flight had been rescheduled from the twenty-fourth to the day after Christmas. His mother had been upset about it, but there was nothing that anyone could do. Niall could hardly drive himself up to the ferry in the bad weather either. He was sad that he’d miss all the festivities, but he was promised a good meal and a celebration once he got there.

“My family wants to meet you,” Harry continued, wiping his lips on a napkin.

“They’ve already met me!” Niall frowned. “I worked for them for almost nine months!”

“No, no, they want to  _ really _ meet you. Like as my boyfriend.”

“Oh,” Niall thought for a moment. It seemed like such a big deal to ‘meet the parents’ even though he had known them for so long. It felt like a lot of pressure. “It’s not too soon to do that?”

Harry smirked. “You said it yourself, you’ve known them for a long time. They just want to get to know you personally, and my sister said she, and I quote: ‘wants to find out why someone so cute would end up with someone like her brother’.”

Niall accidentally inhaled his rice, and proceeded to choke on it until Harry gave him a good slap on the back. He swallowed properly and burst out laughing. “Your sister sounds just as charming as you are!”

“She’s lovely, she really is,” Harry sighed. “But anyways, I was hoping that you’d come with me to my parents house tomorrow morning? Spend Christmas with us and have dinner in the evening? Then I can drive you to the airport the next day to see you off!”

Niall set down his food and slid his arms around Harry’s waist, breathing in his familiar cologne. “I would love to. I just hope I don’t disappoint!”

“Believe me, you won’t.” Harry then retrieved a thin, wrapped gift from seemingly nowhere that Niall must have missed when he’d come in. “Merry Christmas.”

“I said no gifts!” Niall whined, though he carefully unwrapped it anyway. Inside he found a book of Eagles sheet music for his guitar. He smiled, leaning over to kiss Harry softly, a privilege he’d been taking full advantage of. “I love it.”

“I had to get you  _ something _ .” 

Niall then thought of the lonely little gift sitting under his bed, just waiting to be given. He jumped up off of the couch and jogged down the hall to grab it. “This isn’t much,” he announced as he re-entered the living room. “I bought it weeks ago.” He handed it over, the wrapping paper tattered from all the times he’d moved it around his flat to avoid Harry accidentally happening upon it.

“I’m sure it’s perfect, babe,” Harry grinned, ripping in to the paper eagerly. He uncovered the album and stared at it for a minute, a warm smile on his face. “I was right.”

“It’s silly, I know. I bought it before we even became a thing.”

Harry frowned. “Before? I just got my record player in November, how did you -“

“I listened in to one of your phone conversations at the office.” Niall blushed.

“So you stalked me, then?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, I suppose I did.”

They curled up on the couch together, flicking on the television in hopes of finding some sort of Christmas special to watch. As soon as Niall saw that ‘Elf’ was on he vetoed everything else and wrestled Harry in to submission even though they’d already watched it earlier in the week.

Niall was jobless, yes, but he had everything he needed sitting right beside him in a god-awful sweater. Somehow he knew that everything was going to be just fine. 


End file.
